How to Make Money in India for Students

How to make money in India for Students has always been burning question because of Less opportunities and resources.

Making money in India is much easier now when compared to the 80’s and 90’s era.

We the millennials and Gen-Z have too many resources at our disposal.

Whether you are student or a housewife, finding a job should not be a difficult task although the salary or the work environment might not be of your liking but nevertheless hit every spot where you find an opening.

So, let’s begin and see how students can make money while still in college.

1) Become a Quick Service Restaurant(QSR) Employee (PizzaHut, Burger King, McDonalds, KFC)

With the Globalization, came the surge of western restaurants such as PizzaHut, Domino’s, Burger King, McDonalds, KFC, Dunkin Donuts and more.

These restaurants have a quick supply chain and you can get your burger, fries and shakes within minutes.

While working in these restaurants is not easy, but the good things about working in these restaurants is that you will soon get to know the economics of the world and how am international QSR restaurant runs.

It will provide you with a work ethic that you will be required to display all your life in order to be a successful professional.

It will also give you a first hand customer service experience which cannot be matched by a BPO job.

The attrition rate is high for these jobs and you will be able to find the vacancies easily.

My personal suggestion would be to opt for this job if you want a guaranteed salary and once you have enough experience you can start looking for other greener pastures.

2) Become a Ride Share Partner

If you have a decent bike and two-wheeler license, there are many options for you to consider.

Ola, Uber, Swiggy and Zomato are some of the options for you to consider.

30,000 INR is the current average income for many of the ride sharing partners.

Initially you will undergo their training and soon you will be on the road helping you customers travel or by delivering their food.

In the summer, these kind of job can become very hard.

Many ride sharing partners opt for evening shifts as the flow of orders and weather is good.

Pro Tip: Try to provide a residential address of a commercial or High Net-worth Area such as Hi-tech city in Hyderabad or Koramangla in Bangalore so that you will have a ton of orders to deliver and earn more than the average.

3) NewsPaper Delivery

This is often an overlooked profession because you have to follow a strict schedule.

Typically, people who deliver newspapers and milk wake up at 4AM daily and there are no holidays for them.

Although this is a strict schedule but it makes even the best of procrastinators into disciplined men.

The starting wages are low and you will have to work only 2-3 hours everyday in the early morning.

Once you get a dealership from a newspaper, then the real money starts coming in.

Newspapers run various schemes and gift offers for dealers which turn into a very sizeable income.

I understand this might not be for everyone but I have seen majority of Paper delivery guys do at least 2 jobs.

You have several options when it comes to paper delivery.

Option 1

Go to your nearest paper delivery depot and ask for a job.

Option 2

Go to the nearest office of your local/national newspaper such as Times Of India or Deccan Chronicle, their sales offices are always on the lookout for guys who can sell their newspaper subscription. The basic salary is low but the commissions are very good. Many of these guys also do 2 jobs simultaneously.

4) Streaming Games

This is a very lucrative option among all.

You will be required to entertain your audience while playing a game.

Pro Tip: Entertainment Industry will always provide the biggest pay checks if you can get a sizeable audience who likes your content.

Many students are now streaming PUBG while studying in college and some of them have millions of audience on Youtube and other social media channels.

It does not require anything to start, just a decent smartphone will do, but once you start getting an audience you will have to upgrade your equipments and by then you will already have money from Google’s Adsense program or sponsorship deals.

Research other gamers and start networking for better sponsorship deals and know how youtube works.

5) Become a Home Tutor

Education is a multi-billion dollar industry in India. If you are thinking of entering in this industry then your gold mine will never be empty.

I am sure you must have seen a super-hit teacher from your school who has reached new height by opening their tuition center’s and also schools.

Although becoming a good teacher is tough but if you have some business sense, then you can make it very big in the education sector.

There are many options for you to consider.

Option 1

Check with your school if they are looking for any part-time teachers, they will be happy to get an ex-student on their pay-roll as a substitute or part-time teacher.

Option 2

Try to get Home tuitions in your area, If you go their homes, you can charge more, depending on your availability and comfort.

Option 3

If you have some space in your home, then open a Tuition Center in your home so that you can teach at least 20 students at a time and get a comfortable part-time income.

6) Become Self-Employed

Becoming self-employed is the dream of many but only a few can achieve because the lows of self-employment will give you sleepless nights and self-doubt.

Here are some of the ways that you can become self-employed with very little investment.

Method 1

Start preparing khara/papdi/chana packets in your home kitchen and sell directly to travellers who are waiting for buses at big bus depots where travellers are waiting to catch a bus to another state. You can also try it at train stations but security personnel might be not friendly with sellers. You can also sell water bottles in a portable cooler.

Method 2

Start preparing Shawerma/Burger in your home. Go to the nearest corporate place or Special economic zones (SEZ) such as Hi-tech city in Hyderabad or Electronic City in Bangalore where you can find corporates and BPO guys at night. Sell at 100/pop and you will make a great profit within hours.

Pro Tip: Never invest too much when you are starting out. The above listed self-employed ventures can be started with just 2000 rupees.

I also would like to advise that do not invest in trading, bitcoin, prediction or gambling. These are profitable but they have a high risk high reward character in them.

in short, invest the amount that you are comfortable with and even if the venture is unsuccessful, it should not make a hole in your pocket.

Learn a skill and not run after the temporary rainbow.

7) Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is also a lucrative industry to capitalize now that the world is looking for digital shipment for their product/services.

Affiliate marketing is the process of referring customers to online products/service and in tun you will earn a commission which is set by the vendor.

Often the commission is around 50%. The profit margins are huge and the learning curve is also steep.

You can know more about Affiliate Marketing Programs and research products.

Research and start with small steps in order to gain your footing in the affiliate marketing industry.

Let me know in the comments about your favourite method of making money!